Chapter 20 - Comings and Goings

Summer started off slowly and very hot. Eliza got a part-time job at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a receptionist, but all she really did was think of or talk about her upcoming trip to England. Her aunt visited her regularly at the museum, each time telling her about a different friend or relative that they would visit. Eliza enjoyed each and every story, until her aunt came to see her on a certain Monday, about a week away from their departure.

"Lizzie! You will not believe whom I've just heard from," Aunt Anne said that morning, leaning against Eliza's desk. Eliza eagerly looked up from her stapling.

"Who?"

"My old friend Mary! Oh, we used to be so close… we took dance lessons together in grade school. She never went to college you know, decided to work right away… well anyway, I finally found her. I've been trying to contact her for months now!" Aunt Anne said excitedly, her face glowing.

"That's great, Aunt Anne," Eliza said, smiling.

"Oh, I'm so excited to see her. She said we could visit her the first week of August, before her boss comes home."

Eliza furrowed her brow. "Huh?" she said, confused. "What does that mean?"

"Well, she's a housekeeper. Actually, I shouldn't say that, it sounds belittling. I mean, she practically runs the entire estate… she's in charge of running this historical manor called Pemberley."

Pemberley…why did that sound familiar?

"The man who owns it does live there still, but I guess he splits his time between there and London, and he won't be at Pemberley until later in August." Anne paused. "She did tell me his name… what was it?"

"Darcy?" Eliza asked quietly. Her stomach had suddenly turned icy cold.

"Yes! How on Earth did you know that?" Aunt Anne exclaimed.

"I… um… I met him last year. He rented a house near us," Eliza said. What a feeble explanation, she thought, her heart falling.

Her aunt let out a burst of laughter. "What a small world!" she said. "Too bad we won't see him, then."

Eliza wanted to scream, shout, yell at her aunt that she would never set foot on the Pemberley grounds. But her aunt looked so happy and excited, that she bit her lip and kept her feelings to herself.

"Not really," Eliza said, shrugging. "He was the most arrogant man I've ever met," she forced herself to say, returning to her stapling with a little more aggression than was needed. Her aunt smiled and shook her head.

"Oh Lizzie, you're such a snob."

Eliza looked up quickly. "No, I'm not!"

Her aunt laughed again, her grey eyes crinkling at the edges. "Well, even if he is arrogant, Mary said he has one of the most magnificent homes in the country. And it's one of the best preserved. She said the dining room table has been there since the 1700s."

As her aunt chattered on happily about Pemberley, Mary, and the house's splendid grounds, Eliza was becoming more and more panicked. She had to admit that she was dying to see the estate, but how could she? She didn't think she could bear to walk around in his home, look at his fine art, or even touch his perfectly preserved staircase after what she'd done to him. He hated her now, he had to. He'd probably banned her from the grounds, even. Perhaps he'd even forgotten her by now. She couldn't blame him, but the thought made tears prick behind her eyes.

"Anyway, I've checked the weather and the first few days we're there should be pretty warm, but I'd still pack pants and a few sweaters if I were you, Lizzie. Lizzie? Are you even listening to me?"

Eliza jerked herself out of her thoughts and looked at her aunt. "Sorry… I'm pretty tired. Haven't had my coffee yet, you know."

But her aunt was looking at her with an annoyingly shrewd look. "Elizabeth, is there something you want to tell me?"

Eliza noted the use of her full name, and came very close to telling her aunt the entire, horrible story. But then she bit her tongue and shook her head. After all, she told herself, if she had told her aunt about her and William Darcy, her aunt would have cancelled their trip to Pemberley, and then Eliza would just feel even worse about preventing her aunt from seeing an old friend.

A few minutes later, Aunt Anne left to go show a few apartments. Eliza busied herself with her work, but her mind was elsewhere. She had not thought of Darcy in quite some time, but now she couldn't stop. She just kept picturing seeing and talking to him again, and how horrible it would be to watch him glare at her, or worse, ignore her completely.

By Friday, her last day at work before the trip, Eliza was still preoccupied with thoughts of Darcy and her imminent visit to Pemberley. She just had to make sure, positively and absolutely sure, that he wouldn't be there, or she would go plum insane.

Around noon, while everyone else filed out to go to lunch, the office slowly became deathly silent. The phone hadn't rung in hours, and Eliza had already finished all of her filing. Looking around to make sure no one was still there, and feeling completely foolish, Eliza turned to her computer. Her heart racing, she opened the internet and searched for "Darcy & Darcy legal firm + London". The page popped up, and there it was: Darcy's website. Eliza drummed her fingernails on the desk, torn between her need to find out if Darcy was in London and her feeling of complete idiocy. Finally, she clicked the link and up came the website, William Darcy's face staring out of the screen at her. She hadn't seen him in so long, and his face startled her a little. She hadn't remembered him being quite that handsome, and for a moment she found herself just staring at the screen. Soon, though, she shook her head and scrolled up and down, looking for a phone number. Finally, she found one at the very bottom. It was now or never.

Screwing up her courage, she picked up her phone and dialed the international code. Having had to do this several times for museum business, she knew to wait for the automated voice. Finally a robotic female voice came through, telling her to type in the phone number, which she did quickly. Several seconds later, it started to ring.

"Hello, Darcy and Darcy legal firm, how can I help you?" came a cool, British female's voice. Eliza took a deep breath.

"Yes, hello, I was wondering if I could set up an appointment with Mr. Darcy?" she said, donning her best English accent. She felt her face become hot with embarrassment.

"Which one?" said the woman, sounding amused.

"Oh, sorry… William, William Darcy," Eliza said, her face sinking into her hand.

"Alright then… did you have a time in mind?" the secretary asked.

"Well, how about the third week of August?" Eliza asked, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Darcy is out of the office then. He will be in London until August 12th."

"You're sure? You're absolutely sure he'll be in London until then?" Eliza asked, suddenly not caring how stupid she sounded.

"Yes, I'm very sure," the woman replied slowly. Eliza leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief.

"Hello?" the woman asked after several seconds. "Are you still there?"

Eliza gasped despite herself; she had quite forgotten about the phone.

"Sorry, I'll have to call back," she said quickly, and then hung up. With her peace of mind back intact, Eliza happily finished her day, now very eager to get home and start packing.

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"I don't know, Will, I think you should just skive off early. You could use a break."

Will and Charles were sitting in Will's office, eating lunch. Charles was trying to convince Will to leave for Pemberley early, where Charles, Caroline, and Georgia were going to meet him in three weeks time.

"Caroline and I could come early," Charles went on. "And I'm sure Georgia would love to leave London early. We could go on Saturday the sixth and then have a whole month. It'd be good for you."

Will took a gulp of water and glared at Charles. Of course, all of what Charles was saying was completely true: Georgia had been nagging him to go to Pemberley sooner, and even Will himself would love to spend more time there. But he'd been reluctant for only one reason, albeit a very big one. It meant spending an entire extra week in Caroline's presence, whose overtures had been steadily growing stronger and more irksome.

"I'll think about it," Will said.

Charles rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, wrapping up his trash and standing up. "But just a word to the wise: it's a lot easier to avoid Caroline at Pemberley than in London where she knows how to find you all of the time."

With a grin, he left. Will groaned and leaned back in his chair. He thought for a moment, and then pushed the intercom.

"Rose?" he called to his secretary.

"Yes, sir?"

"What's my schedule like for the second week of August?"

There was a pause. "Not too bad, why?"

"Just wondering. Thanks."

Will picked at what was left of his lunch, weighing the pros and cons of going to Pemberley early. Finally, what Charles had said won out: he just had to get away from Caroline, and it was a lot easier to hide in the big house than in his office.

Picking up the phone, he dialed his home phone. It rang several times before a cheerful, older woman came through the receiver.

"Hello, Pemberley Manor?"

"Hello, Mary, it's me."

"Mr. Darcy! It's so wonderful to hear from you, sir," Mary enthused. Mary was his housekeeper who also kept up the gardens and stables, plus ran the tours of the home. He was never quite sure how she did it all.

"I hope everything's well?" he asked.

"Very well, sir," she said.

"Good. Listen, Mary, if it's not too much trouble… Georgia and I were thinking of coming to Pemberley a week earlier than we'd planned."

He had to jerk his ear away from the phone as Mary suddenly shrieked.

"That would be wonderful, sir," she said. He couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, then. We'll be coming on Saturday the sixth. I hope you didn't have too many tours planned?" he asked.

"No… well, I do have a friend coming on either the fourth or fifth… but I could just tell her not to…"

"Don't be silly, Mary. Have your friend come. We can make our own beds if you don't get around to it," he joked. Mary chuckled.

"Oh, it'll be nice to have people around here again."

"Good. I'll see you then."

"Goodbye, Mr. Darcy."

Will hung up feeling far more content than he had before. He had just begun a deposition when he heard a loud knock at his door; he had no time to answer before Caroline slid in, followed by a grinning Georgia.

"Is it true, Will? Are we leaving London early?" she cried as she bounded into the room and threw her arms around Will.

Will spluttered. "How… how on Earth did you find out?"

"I have my ways," Caroline said, as she, too, came in for a hug. Will feebly put his arms around her but pulled away quickly.

"So it's true?" Georgia repeated.

"Yes, Georgia, it's true," Will answered. She clapped excitedly, her blue eyes shining. Caroline smiled and clapped, too, but the two young women could not have been more different: one, a young, fit, smooth-skinned, blonde girl and the other a tall, thin, black-haired monster.

"Yes! Oh, I'm so excited, thank you Will!" Georgia cried, coming in for another hug. Will laughed and patted her head.

"Anything for you, Georgia," he said, but when he saw Caroline also coming in for another hug, he scooted away to the window, pretending to throw something in the trash.

"Well, that leaves us only two weeks!" Caroline said briskly. She snapped her fingers at Georgia. "We have shopping to do, then."

"Right, Caroline," Georgia said and then let herself be dragged out the door, but not before rolling her eyes at Will. He chuckled, but then settled back into his work. One bad thing about taking vacation early, he found, was that it meant he had more work to do before he left.

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"Okay, these are all the numbers of the hotels and the dates will be there. My cell won't work over there, so I just left it at home."

Eliza and her family were at the airport at four in the morning, saying goodbye and smoothing out the last details.

"Okay," Jane said.

"I gave a list to Mom, too, but honestly, I'd rather you call me," Eliza said with a smile. Unfortunately, Jane's eyes were suddenly brimming over with tears.

"What's wrong?" Eliza asked quickly, setting down her carry-on bag.

"It's just… six weeks… is so long… and I…" and then Jane broke down into tears. Eliza smiled lightly but moved in to give her sister a big hug. Jane cried onto her shoulder for a minute or two, until Eliza heard her uncle clear his throat loudly behind her.

"Jane, it'll be fine," Eliza said quickly, picking up her bag again. They still had to go through all of security, which could take almost an hour. But how to get her sister to stop crying?

"But we've never gone this long without seeing each other before!" Jane said, her tears ebbing a little.

"I'll call you as much as I can… five times a week," Eliza said with an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

"Six," Jane said with a shaky smile.

"Alright, six it is," Eliza said, extending her hand. Jane shook it, her tears finally ending.

After several hugs, kisses, and metal detectors, Eliza and her aunt and uncle were finally on the plane to England. While they flew over the ocean, her aunt laid out a very detailed itinerary to Eliza while Uncle John snored lightly to their left. Aunt Anne had planned every last thing; they would start out in London, then work their way south to see Canterbury, then north around Birmingham, then Derbyshire to see Pemberley, and then up to Yorkshire where most of her family lived. Eliza became quite dizzy listening to her aunt for several hours.

Indeed, the moment the plane touched down, Aunt Anne had them whisked off to the hotel, where they barely spent ten minutes before she excitedly pushed them out the door. Eliza dazedly followed along in her aunt's wake, staring at the beautiful city around them, barely taking in a word her aunt was saying. They ate first, at a corner restaurant her aunt knew and loved, and then spent the rest of the day sightseeing. It was nearly eleven o'clock before they started heading back to the hotel, where suddenly Eliza's jetlag caught up with her, and she slept soundly for many, many hours.

The following days were some of the best of Eliza's life. They moved quickly, but having Aunt Anne along was a dream. They met dozens of her friends, who showed Eliza the most interesting things that a regular tourist would never see. Every day was a new adventure, as they climbed, hiked, and bicycled through England. Even just two weeks into it, Eliza felt much more relaxed than she had in years, even though they had covered hundreds of miles in a very short span of time.

On the second Friday of their trip, Aunt Anne was bundling them all onto a train at 6 AM. Eliza couldn't quite remember where they were headed to next, but she settled into her seat and happily began drinking some coffee. She had kept her promise to Jane, and had stayed up until midnight in order to call her sister, who had just been returning home from work. They had a nice talk; Jane brought Eliza up to speed with what had been happening at home (which didn't take very long), and then Eliza filled Jane in on where they had been that day and what she'd seen. Jane wanted to know everything, but Eliza reminded her that she'd brought her camera and could show Jane everything when she got home. Due to their phone call, however, Eliza had not gotten to sleep until one in the morning, and so was somewhat groggy as the train churned and started moving. After about a half hour and two more cups of coffee, though, she started to wake up.

"Where are we going?" Eliza asked her aunt; she had asked her aunt this same question almost every other day, as Eliza had forgotten the itinerary five minutes after her aunt had showed it to her.

Aunt Anne smiled; Uncle John was dozing off on her shoulder. "Derbyshire. To see Mary, my friend from grade school."

"Oh right," Eliza said, nodding. "Tell me about her, again?"

"Oh, we used to be thick as thieves. We took dance lessons together… of course, she was tall and thin, and I was short and chubby, so she was much better than I ever was."

Eliza chuckled.

"I think she followed it through all the way through school… we still spoke on the phone almost every day after I moved, but once I went to college…" she trailed off with a shrug. "I should probably call her soon… remind me around eight, Eliza, to call ahead and make sure she can still see us. I told her we'd be there around one in the afternoon."

"Sure, Aunt Anne," Eliza replied. Then she furrowed her brow. "Be where, exactly?"

"Pemberley! Remember? You said you knew him, oh what's his name… Darcy."

Suddenly Eliza felt her stomach turn to stone. How could she have forgotten? Today was the day she would see Pemberley… Will's home…

"Oh right," she forced herself to say. Although she felt sure that the housekeeper would never let them come over if he was at home, she felt an odd mix of horror and pleasure at the idea of running into him, seeing him real and solid. Then, suddenly, she remembered that he must hate her, and the horror definitely overtook her.

As her aunt had requested, Eliza reminded Anne to call Pemberley at eight and make sure they could still come. Apparently Mary was very excited to see them, as Eliza could hear her voice coming through the phone receiver from over six feet away. Aunt Anne had a large smile on her face as she settled back down into her seat.

"Yes, Mary says she's all ready for us. We'll just stop by the hotel for a bit and shower, and then we'll go!" Aunt Anne said, nudging Uncle John to wake up.

"Whazzit? Where are we?" he said groggily. Anne and Eliza chuckled at his unkempt hair as the train came to a slow stop.

Uncle John slowly became more awake as they took their luggage, got into a cab, and went toward the hotel. It was a charming, historic inn several minutes out of the main town. The peaceful scenery of green, rolling hills quelled some of Eliza's anxiety. She was still excited to see Darcy's great estate, but it was somewhat mixed with a sense of foreboding. Somehow, to see his grand house and hear about him from his housekeeper and see pictures of him would bring an awful sense of finality, a sense that she truly would never see him again.

Eliza had a separate room than her aunt and uncle, and so she showered quickly in the delightful bathroom that had a stone floor and antique paintings. She spent several minutes staring at the clothes she had brought with her, but then she firmly reminded herself that there was no way she would see Will today, and so plucked a silk crepe top and jeans off her bed and put them on.

Several minutes later, with her hair and face ready, she slipped on some ballet flats and headed out the door. Her aunt and uncle were already waiting for her in the lobby, but they smiled patiently and then hurried her into the rented car. Uncle John insisted on driving, so the ride consisted mostly of he and his wife bickering about which way to go, how fast he was going, and the fact that he was getting them lost. Eliza sat in the backseat and found it very easy to get lost in her thoughts, most of which circled around Darcy and the horrible things she had said to him all those months ago. It was a few minutes, then, until she noticed that her aunt and uncle were talking to her.

"Eliza? Eliza?"

Eliza jerked herself out of her thoughts and looked up. Her aunt was turned around her seat looking quizzically at her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Eliza said quickly. "Just a little tired."

Aunt Anne nodded. "We were talking about Darcy and we wanted you tell us what he's like."

Eliza paused. What could she say? "He's… rich."

Her aunt and uncle burst out laughing. "Well, we knew that," Uncle John said after their laughter died down. "But what's he like?"

Eliza shrugged. "I don't know… he's just a snob," she said; that was at least partially true.

Anne rolled her eyes and returned her attention back to the road. "Being rich doesn't necessarily equal being a snob, Lizzie."

"Well, I didn't know him all that well, anyway!" Eliza burst out with a growl. Her aunt and uncle looked surprised, and they quickly changed the subject. Eliza sighed and slumped in her seat, wishing for the day to be over as soon as possible.

Nearly a half hour later, at five after one, they finally turned into the estate. Eliza's head jerked up and she eagerly slid over to the window. Aunt Anne was chattering on about Mary and the house, but Eliza couldn't hear any of it. Tall, beautiful trees lined the long drive; past them she could see walking paths and colorful gardens winding around a small lake. The grounds were breathtaking; meticulous yet amazingly peaceful. Finally the drive bent to the right, and the great house could be seen rising from behind a small hill. Eliza felt an excited jump in her stomach; the massive stone structure was truly amazing. Three stories tall, the reddish-brown stone gleamed in the sun, the innumerous windows twinkling. The façade was not ornate or decorated, but its simplicity made it even more beautiful. Eliza could simply not stop staring as the car made its way down the path and pulled up to the front stairs leading to the door. Her feet hit cobblestone as she got out of the car, but nothing could break her gaze, not even her aunt's high-pitched shriek as she hurried forward to greet her old friend Mary.

"And this must be Eliza!"

Eliza reluctantly looked away from the house at the sound of her name. Mary, a tall woman with silver-streaked red hair was hugging her as if she, too, were an old friend. Eliza dazedly hugged back, and then Mary pulled away and held her at arms-length. The housekeeper had a warm face framed by black wire glasses, and was wearing a simple ensemble of white blouse, black pants, and black flats.

"Welcome to Pemberley, Elizabeth," Mary said. "I see you like it already."

Eliza nodded. "It's an amazing house," she said, although the compliment sounded weak.

Mary smiled as Aunt Anne chimed in, "And the grounds Mary! Don't tell me you do all that gardening yourself?"

"Of course not!" Mary chirped in a thick accent. "We employ almost a half dozen gardeners… and a few yard boys," she said with a wink. Eliza chuckled, but was eager to get inside the house. Mary gratified her as she motioned for them all to follow her inside.

Yet again Eliza's mouth fell open. The foyer was a high-ceilinged, brightly-lit room with a grand chandelier and shiny wood floor. A grand staircase curved up before them, leading to a tapestry that hung on the wall bearing a coat of arms. But before Eliza could even register the antique telephone or historic paintings, they were being whisked off by Mary to start the tour. She took her time, explaining each room and its artifacts, but Eliza still could not help but feel dizzied by the beautiful rooms. It was obvious that some rooms were not meant to be seen by tourists, which were either roped off or sealed behind closed doors. Eliza peeked into one room that was merely roped off; she saw a piano in the corner, but also a wide-screen TV, a huge DVD collection, and several notably contemporary posters on the walls. She smiled a little as she hurried to catch up with Mary and her aunt and uncle. It was nice to know that Darcy didn't just spend his time reading, playing cards, or any other old-fashioned activity.

"This is the old kitchen of course, Mr. Darcy doesn't use this one anymore after he built the new one upstairs," Mary was saying when Eliza caught up with them. They were down in a small, dark room with stone floors and a hearth. A rustic wooden table was sitting in one corner, while several pots and pans lined the walls. They all looked ancient, and Eliza couldn't blame Darcy for wanting to update it a little.

"Alright, let's move on," Mary said a moment later.

"There's more?" Aunt Anne said incredulously. They all laughed.

"Just one more room, I promise," Mary said, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "You want to see this one."

They followed her up a short flight of steps and through several hallways they had been down before. Finally she led them into a huge, brightly sunny room that was windowed on two walls. There was some furniture arranged in the center of the room, but the main focus was the many paintings and pictures that were hung on the wall. Their shoes clapped on the parquet floor as Mary explained to them that every Darcy dating back to the early 17th century was represented on these walls. The first portrait of Fitzwilliam Darcy was dated 1601; he bore very little resemblance to the current Darcy, but he still had curly, blonde hair and dark green eyes. Indeed, almost every Darcy had blonde hair and green eyes, save for a few with blue eyes and one Darcy in the 1800s who had dark, almost black hair. Also pictured often were the many Lady Darcy's and their children; they were all aristocratic, noble-looking women. At one point Eliza's heart fell horribly as she looked at a portrait of one Lady Darcy who bore an uncanny resemblance to Caroline Bingley.

Mary talked on about certain Darcy's and their many contributions to society, but Eliza stopped listening as she finally found herself in front of the current Lord Darcy. There he was, in a family portrait with his father and sister. He was smiling, which surprised and pleased her. His handsome face became even more so when he smiled. She reluctantly turned her eyes to his sister; Georgia was stunning girl, here probably only about fifteen or sixteen. She, too, had blonde hair, but her eyes were a sparkling blue and had a warmth and kindness in them. Eliza suddenly felt on the verge of tears, but she took several deep breaths as her aunt and uncle made her way over to where she stood.

"Is that him, Eliza?" Aunt Anne asked as she looked at the photograph.

Eliza nodded.

"Do you know Mr. Darcy?" Mary asked in shock. Eliza turned to her.

"Only a little… he lived near me last summer," she explained. Mary smiled enthusiastically.

"I had no idea! It's a shame… you'll just miss him, he comes home tomorrow."

"He does?" Eliza asked, taken aback.

"Yes! I'll tell him you were here," Mary said.

"Oh! No, that's alright, please don't," Eliza said quickly, but Mary was still smiling. Eliza groaned silently, but turned at the touch of her aunt's hand upon her forearm.

"My, Eliza… he must be awfully handsome in person," Aunt Anne said to her.

"Oh… well… yes," Eliza said, again finding herself staring at his face. "Yes, he is."

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"Rose, have you postponed all my meetings for next week?"

"Yes, Mr. Darcy."

"And you sent that file to Mr. Richards?"

"Yes, Mr. Darcy."

"And I've already-?"

"Yes, Mr. Darcy. You've finished everything. Go on vacation."

Rose, Will's sweet, forty-something secretary, was looking at him with amusement. His desk was clean, everything done. But it was only Thursday, how could he be finished?

"Rose, are you sure-?"

"Yes, I am. Just go. Richard and I will be fine," she said, chuckling.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt to go now, make sure the house is in order…" he trailed off. There must be something… he checked around his desk one more time.

"Trust me, Mr. Darcy, you've done everything. Go," Rose said, taking his briefcase and setting it by the front door. Will sighed.

"Yes, I guess you're right. Thanks, Rose," he said, shrugging on his suit jacket.

"Have a good vacation, Mr. Darcy," she said as he went out the door. Once out on the sidewalk, Will paused, breathing the humid summer air. He was already all packed, all set… and he'd been hoping to get there before everyone else anyway. He sighed and started walking home, taking out his cell as he went. He dialed Georgia's number and then waited.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Georgia, it's me."

"Hello, big brother," she replied.

"Listen, I'm going to head for Pemberley tomorrow afternoon, make sure everything's in order," he said. He heard her growl.

"Why can't I go early?" she groused.

"Because, you have to stay for your last day of camp," he said. "I'm certainly paying enough for it, you'd better stay for the whole thing."

She groaned. "Fine, I'll ride with Caroline and Charlie on Saturday," she said.

"Good girl. I'll talk to you later," he said.

"Bye, Will."

The following morning, Will woke a little late and felt thoroughly disconcerted. It wasn't often he took vacation, and it was even less often that he left early for it. He shrugged to himself and started getting ready to leave. It was a good, long drive to Pemberley and he hoped to get there at least by three or four o'clock. He packed everything into his car, and then double and triple-checked the house. Reassured that he'd remembered everything and had locked every last door and window, he got into his car and drove off.

The drive started out relaxing and peaceful, but after awhile he started getting antsy. He stopped once for gas, and once for lunch, but otherwise it was just him and the radio. He was more than a little relieved to see the vibrant gardens and rolling hills of his estate, and he sped up a little as he drove down the path. There were a few gardeners out watering the considerable amount of flowers and plants, and a few waved in shock as he drove by. He drove past the front door and instead came to a stop by the garage, which was built apart from the house. To his surprise, he could see people sitting up on the porch that jutted out from the second floor, and he was even more surprised to see a young woman standing on the portico not very far from him. She had her back turned to him, and seemed to be staring off into the grounds. Startled to see people at his house, especially when Mary had said she wasn't expecting anyone today, he got out of the car and paused, leaning on the frame and trying to make out the faces of the people on the porch. When he couldn't, he shut the car door and began walking.

The sound of the car door, however, had gotten the attention of the young woman on the portico, who jumped and turned around. Her face made him stop dead in his tracks. No, it couldn't be…

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Around mid-afternoon, Mary stopped the tour and offered them tea. Anne and John gratefully accepted, but Eliza asked if she could instead walk outside. Mary obliged, and Eliza found her way out of the house and stepped outside. The air was clear and had a slight breeze as she wound her way around the house. The grounds stretched out in every direction; Eliza had no idea where to begin. She wandered over to a small stone portico on the eastern side of the house and gazed out. Darcy's home was strong and solid next to her, and she couldn't help but think of him. What would she have thought of him, she wondered, if she'd never met Wickham, if she'd never found out Darcy's role in breaking up Jane and Bingley… what would she have said that night? There was still the fact, she reminded herself, of his arrogance and disdainful manner. But seeing and being in his home, the house where he grew up, she found that she could hardly fault him for it. If this was the manner in which he grew up, and if people like Caroline Bingley were the kind of society he grew up in, then how could he not be at least a little arrogant?

The sound of a car door slamming startled her; she jumped and whirled around. There, just a few feet away, was the subject of her thoughts, walking toward her. Eliza felt panic rise as he came closer, and then stopped dead. He stared at her for several seconds, the shock registering on his face.

"Eliza?"

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A/N: Ack! I apologize for wait. I just got back from a rather lovely vacation, and the first thing I did was finish this chapter!

I know, wasn't it awful of me to leave the chapter there? Please review! I go back to school in two weeks, so if you all review maybe I can get one or two chapters in before I go! The Pemberley part of my story will be way off-canon and much longer than in the book, so review!

Love, luck, and flying Ringwraiths,

Emma the NazgulQueen